1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic component processing apparatus, and more particularly, is directed to a machine for cutting, bending and forming the leads of electrical circuit components such as resistors and capacitors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the design and production of various types of electrical and electronic equipment, numerous components having axial leads are utilized in the circuitry. Mass production techniques must be employed to minimize production costs, and these mass production procedures usually include the treatment of the components before delivery to the assembly line. Resistors, capacitors and other packaged electrical and electronic circuit components are usually provided in stock form with long leads for connection into the designed circuitry. Many prior art machines have been developed with the purpose of increasing the efficient treatment of these leads prior to actual use.
The long lead wires must be cut or trimmed to the required size and usually must also be bent or formed to a predetermined shape prior to soldering or otherwise being electrically connected into the circuitry. It is now standard practice for electronic equipment manufacturers to standardize designs and manufacturing techniques to enhance the production capability of a facility by increasing efficiency and consequently reducing production costs. One common practice that has been generally utilized to increase efficiency has been to uniformly trim, form and bend the component lead wires prior to delivery to the equipment production line.
In this manner, the time and energy of each production worker can be concentrated on the actual assembly of the equipment without requiring any slow down in production which would otherwise be required for individually cutting, forming and bending the leads of each of the components immediately prior to use. In the present state of the art, there are a large number of machines that have been designed to automatically cut and form the leads of such electrical components. These machines employ a large number of cooperating moving parts and many are capable of even inserting the formed components into a circuit board as part of the cyclical operation of the machine. However, all of these prior art machines suffer from the common disadvantages of being quite complicated in construction and therefore relatively expensive in manufacture due to their large number of cooperating moving parts. Additionally, due to the complexity of the prior art machines, these devices have been the subject of wear and frequent breakdowns, thereby seriously effecting the overall operating efficiency.